Try launching Ekiga, the GNOME Video Conference application. Make sure
that, in the video detection screen, your camera is visible, either as a
V4L or V4L2 device. If it isn't visible in Ekiga, then chances are you
don't have a driver for it.
Linux usually has a hard time with webcams... as standardisation in that
area is far from complete.
There are 4 types of webcams.
1) Pure proprietary chipsets of old generation. The driver had to read
bits off of the CCD sensor and do the whole work of reconstructing the
image... without the relevant proprietary info, this is impossible. So
not many exist.
2) More modern proprietary chipsets. The driver has to get the high
level info off of the device which does a lot of processing by itself.
Again, without proprietary specs, impossible to write a driver. So not
many exist.
3) "classic industry chipset" like the Philipps chips that equip many
webcams. There is a driver for Linux that handles this family reasonably
well.
4) New standard USB-VC (USB Video Class) devices. This is, as the name
implies, for USB cams. The good news is that it's a standard. Ubuntu
7.10, Solaris, and a few other popular operating systems include the
driver by default. Older versions (Ubuntu 7.04 and before) don't, so you
would have to manually install in these older OSes).
If your built-in webcam is USB-VC, it should be visible directly. If
not... depends on your luck and if it's a (1), (2) or (3) category cam. :)
Gilles.
David B. Toth wrote:
> Just downloaded the Skype 2.x beta and want to activate my video ...
> The computer has a built-in webcam that works automagically in Windows ....
> Any idea how to get the system to see it in 7.10 ???
>> Dave
>>>
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